Jessel
A variant of the feminine name Jezebel, derived from Hebrew meaning "non-cohabited, chaste".
Name Census estimates that about 174 living Americans carry the first name Jessel. It is a predominantly female name (94.6% of registrations). The average person named Jessel today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jessel births was 2004 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jessel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
174
~ 1 in 1,969,853 Americans
Peak year
2004
12 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
1953 SSA rank
#4,074
Tracked since 1927
Census
Jessel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 373 people with the first name Jessel, which placed it at #25,428 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,428
National first-name rank
People counted
373
373 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
60.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jessel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessel is Hispanic at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.3%) and Black (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jessel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jessel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino60.9% · 227
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.3% · 72
- Black or African American8.8% · 33
- White7.0% · 26
- Two or more races2.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Jessel
Jessel leans heavily female at 94.6% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jessel as a male name
- Ranked #4,074 in 1953
- 5 male births in 1953
- Peak: 1927 (5 births)
Jessel as a female name
- Ranked #17,002 in 2017
- 5 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2004 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessel on both sides of the split. Of the 374 people counted with this name, 104 were male (27.8%) and 270 were female (72.2%).
Popularity
Jessel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jessel from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 78 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jessel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jessel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jessel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jessels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jessel
The name Jessel is an English variant of the Hebrew name Yisrael, which means "one who struggles with God" or "God prevails". It is derived from the biblical patriarch Jacob, who was later renamed Israel after wrestling with an angel.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jessel dates back to the late Middle Ages in England, where it was likely adopted by Jewish families as an anglicized version of the Hebrew name. It was relatively uncommon until the 19th century when it gained popularity among English Jews and Christians alike.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Jessel was Sir George Jessel, an English lawyer and judge who lived from 1824 to 1883. He served as the Solicitor General for England and Wales and was later appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Another notable figure with the name Jessel was Sir Herbert Jessel, a British politician and philanthropist who lived from 1866 to 1950. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party and was a prominent supporter of Jewish causes.
In the world of literature, one of the most famous individuals with the name Jessel was Sir George Jessel, an American writer, composer, and comedian who lived from 1898 to 1981. He is best known for his work on Broadway and in Hollywood, where he collaborated with many notable figures in the entertainment industry.
The name Jessel also has a rich history in the arts and entertainment world. Sir George Jessel, a British actor and director who lived from 1898 to 1975, had a successful career on stage and in films, and was known for his performances in Shakespearean plays.
Another notable figure with the name Jessel was Sir Herbert Jessel, a British artist and sculptor who lived from 1868 to 1938. He was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and is best known for his sculptures depicting biblical and mythological themes.
Overall, the name Jessel has a long and varied history, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in fields such as law, politics, literature, and the arts.
People
Jessel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jessel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jessel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jessel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 174 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jessel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,969,853 US residents.
Is Jessel a common name?
We classify Jessel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jessel most popular?
The single biggest year for Jessel was 2004, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jessel is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jessel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 373 people with the name Jessel, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,428 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jessel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jessel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jessel on both sides of the split. Of the 374 people counted with this name, 104 were male (27.8%) and 270 were female (72.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jessel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jessel is Hispanic at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.3%) and Black (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jessel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jessel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.9% (227 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jessel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jessel a female name?
Yes, 94.6% of people registered as Jessel in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jessel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jessel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jessel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Jessel as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.